Mix-up during Rriley’s live performance at Youth Music Awards leaves her crying

It was her “first live show in forever” and Rriley — one of the members of local band The Sam Willows — was naturally stoked beforehand.

Nominated for Artist of the Year (Pop) at the *SCAPE Youth Music Awards 2021 (YMA), she also performed live at the event which took place last night (March 31) and was streamed on YouTube. YMA showcases local musicians under the age of 35 and was in its third edition.

However, the 30-year-old musician was left crying at the end of the night.

Rriley posted a series of emotional Instagram stories after the event, explaining there were parts of her performance that did not go according to plan, in particular during her song Fire.

“Basically, the wrong track was played and there wasn’t the backing vocals I needed because I was dancing for that song,” she said.

She went on to state that, despite being presented the wrong track, she still sang live while dancing.

“I wasn’t lip-syncing or anything but I just thought that it was not my best performance because of the track, and it didn’t sound as good as I wanted it to sound because if i'm going to be dancing a lot, there are some parts of the songs that I usually don't sing because the moves are a lot harder,” she explained.

The experience shook her and she mentioned she wasn’t sure how to react on stage, such as whether she should have stopped dancing and focused on singing, or to have completely stopped the performance and start again with the right track.

Rriley added the management of YMA offered to correct the audio for her and she asked her Instagram followers for advice on whether it was best to take up the offer or to leave it and move on.

By the end of the interaction with her supporters, Rriley again teared up as she thanked them for their kind messages and honest replies on how she should deal with the issue.

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AsiaOne reached out to YMA for comments and a spokesperson from *SCAPE Creative Arts told AsiaOne: “The Youth Music Awards is a platform to recognise prolific young artists in Singapore. The intention of the awards is also to showcase artists’ performances, and provide a platform where they can inspire and interact with other young musicians.

“Last night’s awards was the first time a hybrid show was held online and live on-site with limited attendees. Unfortunately there was a technical error concerning one of the playbacks which affected one of Rriley’s songs.

“We spoke to Rriley and her management immediately after her performance, and have since been working together to make the necessary changes. We will be working with our technical production team to conduct a thorough review including learning points for future events."

*SCAPE is the organiser of YMA.

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amierul@asiaone.com